AMT Seeks Historic Election DayVoter Turnout
By Hazem Kira
The objective issue-driven scorecard put out by the American Muslim Taskforce - PAC, the largest Muslim umbrella organization in the country — which includes the American Muslim Alliance (AMA), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the Muslim American Society (MAS) – is feverishly working for a historic – largest ever- Muslim voter turnout, with focus on the battleground states.
Their combined calendar is dotted with dozens of rallies, town hall meetings and neighborhood get-togethers.
With an estimated 4.9 million eligible voters and populations in large electoral states and swing states, American Muslims could very well be an important factor, as they were in the last two closely won Presidential elections.
Working in unison with a number of local groups, the American Muslim Taskforce is aiming for a 90% plus Muslim voter turnout on Nov 4. To that end, the AMT has placed full page ads in several newspaper as well as 60-second ads on many TV channels.
The AMT has designated Friday, October 31 as ‘National Muslim Civic Education Day’, and the following weekend of Nov 1-2 as the ‘National Voter Mobilization Weekend.’
The core of the AMT strategy is narrowly focused on a “14-state Strategy” which is premised on the uneven distribution of Electoral College votes in more populous states, many of which - Florida , New Jersey , Michigan , and Ohio - for example happen to be the current battleground states.
State coordinators have been hired in these battleground states to galvanize local Muslim voters with the goal of achieving an above-national-average Muslim voter turnout.
The AMT has organized a number of mobilization and civic education events for the last week before the November 4th elections. States where such events are taking place include: Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Missouri .
As a second tier strategy similar mobilization is being sought in California, Texas and Oregon as well.
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